Time for a second third political party, that is. How does “New Democratic Party” sound to you?
Unfuckingbelievable. If this is true (can’t confirm yet), it looks like Sen. Ken Salazar cut his own little deal with Dr. James Dobson about the filibuster:
If he’s so worried about this extreme judge, what’s his problem with supporting a [...]

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Okay, if all y’all are going to start a Resolution No. 2 pool, I want in. (I could use the money.) But I’m warning you, I’m the mistress of my domain.
How much are the bets, and what’s the point spread?

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Okay, the hair doesn’t look as bad as it did last night, and its attractiveness has since been validated by my co-workers and several men (yes, I know: As a feminist, Why Should I Feel The Need To Be Validated By Men? Answer: Because they’re the target audience). And they weren’t just being polite, either: [...]

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Bob Fertig:
I have confirmed reports that Kerry wants to filibuster Alito, and he is talking to his colleagues to round up the 41 votes he needs.
Only two Democrats (Ben Nelson and Tim Johnson) support Alito. Only two others (Mary Landrieu and Ken Salazar) say they oppose a filibuster, but are expected to vote against [...]

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A quarter-million here, a quarter-million there - pretty soon, you’re talking about real money:
Last week, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) “made a point of returning $2,500 in campaign contributions from embattled Rep. Bob Ney — an Ohio Republican whom convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff claims he bribed,” the Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell notes.
Said a statement: “Senator Martinez [...]

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Boy, Robert Byrd must not care about the welfare of coal miners as much as I thought he did. I mean, why else would he feel it necessary to support a big-business pal like Alito for the Supreme Court?

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Rowhouse Logic:
You know what I would love even more than watching Kos take a crap on the only two people with the spine to run in spite of the DNSC and Rendell suicide pact? I’d love it if Kos and John Aravosis and anyone else from far away with a national profile, would stay the [...]

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When I was a child, the local taproom was a place on 57th 58th St. named Dowd’s. While they did give out much-coveted popcorn balls on Halloween night, I still didn’t like the place. It reeked of beer, even to passersby, and if the door was open, you’d hear the neighborhood’s loudest drunks holding forth [...]

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Katie Couric on today’s Today Show:
COURIC: Hey, wait a second. Democrats took — Democrats took money from Abramoff too, Mr. Dean.
DEAN: That is absolutely false. That did not happen. Not one dime of money from Jack Abramoff went to any Democrat at any time. [...]

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Just go read Wolcott. Now.

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Because I’m working poor (not as poor as I used to be, but I’m not exactly rolling in disposable income), I get my hair cut ($12) every four months or so at one of those beauty school clinics. They always do nice work, but downtown parking is a real problem. The meters are only good [...]

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There are so many reasons I heart Julia, not the least of which she does all the real work on stories like this WashPo attempt to whitewash the K Street Project as bipartisan and that means I don’t have to. She has an uncanny knack for pulling just the right piece from the past to [...]

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You know, when even The New York Times editorial board is telling you to filibuster, you might want to think about it:
Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice [...]

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Dave Neiwart:
I broke my longstanding policy of not donating money to political parties last fall when the folks from the DNC called and asked for money to help gird them for the upcoming fights over judicial seats. I was assured that indeed they would fight to keep right-wing extremists off the Supreme Court.
And now, faced [...]

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David Sirota says the anonymous Democratic “strategists” quoted in Ron Brownstein’s L.A. Times piece are full of shit, and why:
It is quite possible that reporters, politicians and “strategists” who spend most of their time in the cushy confines of Washington simply have no concept of what people out in the heartland really think. Democratic “strategists” [...]

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Because God knows, capitalism has had to go underground for the past five years! And I’m sure some more reduced regulation would be enough to make, say, those coal mines in West Virginia a healthier place to work:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. Jan 25, 2006 — A multimillionaire businessman entered the GOP race to challenge Sen. Robert C. [...]

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I suppose it’s just a coincidence that no Iraq war vets are running as Republicans:
An organization of veterans disillusioned with President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war plans to launch a political action committee today dedicated to electing antiwar veterans to Congress.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America PAC hopes to raise as much as [...]

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Not exactly hopeful news:
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei announced his resignation and said the radical Islamist group Hamas must form the next government after the general election.
The announcement came as Hamas looked set for a stunning victory over Fatah in the Palestinian election, plunging the stalled Middle East peace [...]

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The difference between a fuckup and fucking up is, a fuckup doesn’t even try - or care enough to change the same old ways that produce the same old results. George Bush is, as always and ever shall be, a fuckup:
This week, as the killing of American G.I.’s and innocent Iraqis continued, we learned from [...]

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Isn’t this interesting:
The Bush administration rejected a 2002 Senate proposal that would have made it easier for FBI agents to obtain surveillance warrants in terrorism cases, concluding that the system was working well and that it would likely be unconstitutional to lower the legal standard.
The proposed legislation by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) would have allowed [...]

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See, Everything Was Different After 9/11:
Even before the White House formally authorized a secret program to spy on U.S. citizens without obtaining warrants, such eavesdropping was occurring and some of the information was being shared with the FBI, declassified correspondence and interviews with congressional and intelligence officials indicate.
On Oct. 1, 2001, three weeks after the [...]

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Will rips Ed Rendell a new asshole over endorsing Alito and wind up with a list of the Pennsylvanians who were killed in Iraq:
There are 111 names on that list. They were your constituents, governor. Were because each one was killed in Iraq. Only California and Texas have paid for the war with more [...]

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How does Chimpy live with himself?
Here’s what General Mike Hayden said — he was the former director here at NSA. He’s now the Deputy Director of the National Intelligence — Deputy Director of National Intelligence — and here’s what he said earlier this week: “Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is [...]

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And after all, there’s more than one way to skin a cat:
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday nominated one of the Justice Department’s lead prosecutors in the Jack Abramoff corruption probe to a U.S. District Court seat.
Noel Hillman, chief of the department’s public integrity section, was nominated for the federal judgeship in New Jersey, where [...]

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Via my buddy Noz, who is allergic to upper case:
i don’t know how many of my readers are from philadelphia, but the 12th street gym is really a fixture in this city’s gayborhood. the gym is owned by robert guzzardi. guzzardi, it seems, has already donated over $4,000 to the santorum campaign, a fairly large [...]

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Wow. Peter Daou hits a grand slam with this one:
What’s the common thread running through the past half-decade of Bush’s presidency? What’s the nexus between the Swift-boating of Kerry, the Swift-boating of Murtha, and the guilt-by-association between Democrats and terrorists? Why has a seemingly endless string of administration scandals faded into oblivion? Why do Democrats [...]

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Great column by Tim Goodman on urban crime, cable news and missing white women.

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Albert has links to all the Philadelphia bloggers (including me) who are furious over Bob “Me, Too” Casey’s gratuitious statement that if he were in the Senate, he’d vote to confirm Alito.
The difference is, most of them are already in Chuck Pennachio’s column. Me? “Eh, not so much.”
Disclosure: The company for which I work advises [...]

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An example for the rest of us:
Just two guys, hanging out, talking about sports and video games. See Kobe’s 81 points? Best player in the game today, one says. No way, says the other. It’s Iverson. Always Iverson.
They talk about the Super Bowl, the pros and cons of T.O. When one plays a game of [...]

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Oh, look! Our colleague Kagro X over at The Next Hurrah informs us articles of impeachment may be initiated by a state legislature:
And to be perfectly honest with you, this read at first like just another fringe-y, kooked-out misreading of procedure. But I just happen to have an old copy of Jefferson’s Manual here on [...]

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